Fountain pen



W. H. PETIT FOUNTAIN PEN June 13, 1950 Filed June 21, 1946 Il-ll 1| I 77 INVENTOR I BY 1 WILL/AM H. PET/AT ATTORNEY Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE Clary Multiplier Corporation,

Los Angeles,

Calif., a corporation of California Application June 21,1946, Serial No. 678,318

2 Claims.

This invention relates to fountain pens and has particular reference to the well known ball type pens in which the writing point is formed by a small ball rotatably mounted in a socket carried by the pen barrel. A heavy bodied viscous or tacky ink is contained in the barrel and is fed to the surface of the ball through the socket. As the ball rolls over the writing surface it carries the ink in a film from the interior of the socket to the writing surface.

In such pens, difficulty has been encountered in properly feeding the ink to the surface of the ball. Heretofore, pens have been constructed with an ink containing tube which communicates with the ball socket at one end and is closed at the other to prevent leakage of the ink if the pen is held inverted. However, the dense ink, as it is drawn out of the tube, eventually forms a vacuum at the closed end of the tube which interferes with the flow of ink to the ball, requiring either intermittent admission of air thereto or an open ended tube with a movable close fitting plunger for closing said end of the tube in order to prevent leakage if the pen is held inverted.

Other pens have been provided with an ink passage having the end thereof remote from the ball open to the atmosphere. In this case, the cross sectional area of the passage is restricted sufficiently to prevent the heavy bodied ink from freely flowing therethrough under gravity when the pen is inverted. This is due to its adhesive and cohesive properties and due to the fact that the ball and socket therefor form a seal which, when the pen is held inverted, acts in the manner of a pipette.

At the same time, the passage is large enough to allow the ink to be drawn therethrough inresponse to adherence of the ink to the surface of the ball and the consequent formation of a film which is carried by the ball as it rolls over the writing surface. Nevertheless, it is apparent that this action must be supplemented by the action of gravity if the ink passage is of substantial length. This is evidenced by the fact that applicant has been unable to find any of the various commercially produced kinds of pens of the above mentioned ball type which will write inverted for an appreciable length of time.

The above noted restriction in the cross sectional area of the ink passage in order to prevent leakage greatly reduces the ink capacity of the pen and in order to overcome this deficiency it has previously been proposed to provide a tortuous ink passage whereby to extend the length of the vein of column of ink reaching to the ball.

Although the provision of a pen barrel having such a tortuous passage results in a considerable increase in the ink capacity of the pen, it requires several parts, certain of which present unique andcomplicated manufacturing problems. Furthermore, theprovisionof an extended passage presents a problem of moving such a long vein of fluid in response to removal of a portion thereof by the ball in that a limit would apparently be reached wherein the friction of the ink or its flow properties would overcome the gravitational and other forces tending to move it to the surface of the writing ball, and also, the effective head of pressure for the tortuous path, tending to force the ink column to the surface of the ball, is reduced in proportion to the length of the column.

The present invention has for its principal object to provide a pen of the above type which eliminates the above mentioned disadvantages and yet has ample ink capacity.

A further object is to vent the outer end of an ink container for a pen of the above type while preventing leakage of ink therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pen of the above type which is simple and economical to manufacture.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be readily understood on reference to the following specification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the pen and is taken along the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the lower portion of the pen and is taken along the lines 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the pen barrel and is taken along the lines 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the pen shown therein comprises a circular pen barrel it of suitable material, i. e. plastic or metal, in which are formed a plurality of closely grouped circular ink containing channels or passages ll of relatively small diameters. A central passage extends coaxially through the barrel and a plurality of like passages are equally spaced thereabout as shown in Fig. 2.

The passages I l are initially filled with a heavy bodied viscous or tacky ink, preferably having an oil base such as castor oil, this type of ink being well known in the art for use with ball type pens. Each of the passages I l is of such a diameter that the ink will retain itself within the passage through its adhesive and cohesive properties even though the barrel is held vertically and the ends thereof allowed to remain open to the atmosphere. That is, even though gravity has an effect on the ink it will not freely force the ink through the passage on its own accord. Such a relationship may be found, for example, by forming the diameter of each passage on the order of .080 inch in diameter and providing an ink of a consistency usually found in pens of this type.

Threadedly secured to the lower end of the barrel is is a cap i2 to which is integrally attached a tip 43. A socket if formed in the point of the tip to receive a ball it which is preferably on the order of the one millimeter in diameter.

After the ball it has been fitted in the socket, the outer edge of the latter is formed over the ball a small amount so as to permanently retain the ball while permitting the same to rotate in any direction when the pen is moved over a writing surface. The ball socket communicates with the various passages i i in the barrel through a circular feed passage or channel 15 of re stricted diameter which is flared at 6 to form a chamber. The outer periphery of the chamber extends coincident with the outer portions of the peripheries of the various ink passages H. The opposite end of the barrel H is threadedly secured to a hollow i? having a, vent therein formed by a small tube it which is bent back upon itself as at 19. The tube 13 communicates the interior of the ca El with the atmosphere so as to permit atmospheric pressure to be applied to the upper ends of the ink passages II and at the same time prevents any ink which might leak from the ink passages H from leaking or oozing out of the cap.

A screen 2i of relatively fine mesh may be placed across the upper end of the barrel Ii and is held in place by a shoulder 22 on the cap ii to restrain passage of ink from the channels H to the cap in the event the pen is abruptly jarred while in upright inverted position.

In preparing the pen for use, the passages ii of the barrel are filled with the viscous ink in any suitable manner, 1. e., by forcing the ink therethrough under pressure. Thereafter, the pen is assembled and the ink is forced to completely fill the channel 15 in the cap l2 and tip [3.

Although any suitable means may be employed to fill the cap portion of the pen, this is preferably accomplished by whirling the pen at a relative high speed in a centrifuge or like device with the ball it in a position remote from the axis of rotation of the pen so as to cause the centrifugal force thus developed to press the ink outward into intimate contact with the ball.

As the pen is used, the ball is, in rolling over the writing surface, will pick up a film of ink from the passage it, due t the adhesion of the ink, and will carry the same along the surface thereof to the writing surface. As the ink is used, it will, due to its cohesive properties, and aided by gravity, draw the portion thereof located in the passages l l downward into the passage l and onto the surface of the ball.

The modified form disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5 comprises a hollow cylindrical barrel 23 of plastic or metal having retainers or end pieces 2 and 25 threadably or otherwise secured therein. A plurality of metal or plastic tubes 26 are fitted within apertures formed in the end pieces and are soldered or otherwise secured therein to form a plurality of ink containing passages arrayed in a manner similar to the channels of the barrel l0 shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

A tip assembly similar to that of Fig. 1 is threadedly secured to the end piece 2 like reference numerals being used to indicate the parts which are similar. in this case, also, the outer periphery of the chamber formed by the flared section It of passage l5 extends coincident with the outer portions of the peripheries of the tubes 26.

A hollow end cap ll, similar to the cap I! (Fig.

1) is threadedly secured to the upper end piece 25. The cap H is vented by a tube 28 in a manner similar to that of the cap of Fig. 1. However, in this case, the tube 28 is formed into a helical coil within the cap so as to prevent leakage of the ink therethrough in the event that a portion thereof is admitted into the cap.

Although I have described my invention in detail and have therefore used certain specific terms and languages herein, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative, rather than restricted, and that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A fountain pen comprising a tip forming a socket, a ball rotatably mounted in said socket to transmit an ink of a viscous character from within said socket to a writing surface, a single ink feed passage extending through said tip and opening into said socket, a hollow barrel, a retainer re'movably secured at one end thereof to said barrel and at the other end thereof to said tip, said retainer having a plurality of apertures therein, and a plurality of tubular ink containing elements removably secured adjacent one end of each thereof in said apertures and extending into said barrel parallel to the length thereof, said adjacent ends of said elements terminating in a common plane in communication with said feed passage.

2. A fountain pen comprising a tip forming a socket, a ball rotatably mounted in said socket to transmit an ink of a viscous character from within said socket to a writing surface, a single ink feed passage extending through said tip and opening into said socket, a hollow barrel, a retainer threadably secured adjacent one end thereof to said tip, said retainer being threadably secured adjacent the opposite end thereof to one end of said barrel, said retainer having a plurality of apertures extending longitudinally therethrough, and a plurality of ink containing elements removably secured adjacent one end of each thereof in said apertures and extending into said barrel parallel to the length thereof, the adjacent ends of said elements terminating in a common plane in communication with said feed passage.

WILLIAM H. PETIT.

REFERENCES CITED h The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 715,359 Dickie Dec. 9, 1902 729,795 La Burt Feb. 17, 1903 1,179,086 Foster Apr. 11, 1916 1,327,729 Pos'chall Jan. 13, 1920 1,493,680 Kaepsel -1- May 13, 1924 2,107,424 Platt Feb. 8, 1933 2,249,153 Nissen July 15, 1941 2,397,229 Biro Mar. 26, 1946 2,416,896 Biro Mar. 4, 1947 2,427,033 Wahl 1 Sept. 9, 1947 2,452,504 Teift Oct. 26, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 

